Alma Petrosian (original character)
Character History A Family's Legacy The Kassouni family was among the refugees of the Armenian Genocide in 1915, but rather than joining the others in poverty and squalor in refugee camps, Alma's grandfather Mikhail, formerly a successful textile merchant, managed to use his connections to leave the Ottoman State with his wife Clara, and settle in Manchester, England, where a considerable Armenian community existed. The Petrosian family was able to preserve their wealth and exist in relative comfort. Mikhail and Clara would later have a daughter named Esther. Both beautiful and intelligent, Esther Kassouni was considered the gem of her family. However, a childhood illness brought many doctors to conclude that she would never be healthy enough to bear children. This caused a rift between herself and her parents, who were strongly dedicated to the idea of their bloodline carrying on after all they had done to escape from Armenia and start a better life. While they still loved their daughter dearly, they also became more protective of her, as though she were a breakable doll. At Esther's urging the family moved from Manchester to another Armenian enclave in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, when she was accepted to Boston College to study anthropology. It was here that she met Andrus Petrosian, a handsome pre-medical student also of Armenian descent.The pair lived out an idyllic romance, culminating in their marriage and the revelation that Esther was, in fact, pregnant, which brought great joy to Mikhail and Clara Kassouni. Despite some troubles with Esther's health through the pregnancy, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl whom they named "Alma", which means "soul", because they agreed that the birth of a healthy child breathed new life into the heart and soul of their family. A Shocking Discovery Alma Marie Petrosian grew up happily in Whitinsville - her mother came to be a well-known writer in the field of anthropology, while her father became a professor of biological sciences. Affluent, pretty, and charming, it did not seem that great a loss that she was not quite as intelligent as her parents - in fact, she was of quite average intellect, which was only mentioned behind closed doors. Instead, she was praised for her pretty face and precocious ways as a child, and grew up believing that this was enough to get by with. At the age of 12, Alma was sleeping over at the home of her best friend at the time, Lita Schauber, when they began a game of truth or dare. It was revealed that they both had a crush on the same boy, and Lita attacked her friend out of jealousy. When threatened, Alma found that her skin gave way to sharp, curved spikes -- in panic, she climbed out of her friend's window and ran home. Her parents, in shock, scrambled to try and find a solution to the problem, but had no time to do so. Mr. Schauberr arrived at the Petrosian home shortly after with his daughter looking absolutely mortified. They demanded to see Alma at once to confirm the story, only to find that by now, Alma had returned to normal. They wrote it off as the workings of the young girls' imagination and it was never mentioned again. Wishing for a Normal Life The Petrosians were soon contacted by Charles Xavier, whom they had become acquainted with in their academic social circles - but they initially refused his offer to allow Alma to attend their school, stating that they still wished to give her a normal life and would instead try to have her repress whatever triggered the mutation. They deduced that her transformations were caused by stress, most likely by an overabundance of adrenaline, and so began to spoil her to the point that she would never worry about anything. She started homeschooling, and very rarely left the house. Alma, however, did no appreciate being treated as though she were unable to do anything for herself, and grew to resent her parents for this. The stress and emotion that came with this, however, triggered more and more transformations. Alma became angry and hateful, because throughout her childhood, she had always been praised for her beauty, and now this sudden mutation had taken that away. Moreover, she realized that the more she cared about what people thought, the more she cared for her parents and for others' well-being, the more emotion it instilled in her. The more emotion, the more the transformations occurred. Slowly, she began to ween herself from feeling any emotional attachment towards anyone, and found that this caused her transformations to be few and far between. Interpreting this as an improvement, at age 15 the Petrosians tried sending Alma back to a normal school. She managed to blend in well enough, but by now, Alma's parents began to notice that she did not make real friends, nor did she show any emotion towards them that appeared at all genuine. Seeing the change in their daughter, they made the decision to accept Xavier's invitation in hopes that their daughter could be helped. A New Life at the Xavier Institute Alma started her first year at the Xavier Institute remaining for the most part disinterested in everything and everyone, though she quickly rose to popularity thanks to her manipulative ways, and her ability to show some semblance of kindness, however insincere. In particular, she found ease in manipulating the nerdy, unpopular types, though not feeling any genuine care for them. She found a friend in Beatrice LaReine, though their friendship started when she was mistaken for Bee in the hallways. Another person with whom Alma is amiable is a shapeshifting mutant by the name of Billy McElroy, a nerdy, quiet boy who is enamored with Alma but does not pursue her romantically - Alma treats him like a butler, and he willingly obliges. Powers and Abilities Mutation Bone Spikes Alma's skin is able to give way to curved spikes made of hardened bone - these do not cause wounds, but rather erupt like the spines of a porcupine instantaneously through widening of the pores where hair follicles would be. These spikes are approximately four to five inches long and curved inward towards her body, forming almost a shell-like cover. When she no longer requires the spikes, they shed rather than retract. They are sharp to the touch and can pierce very tough surfaces. A side effect of Alma's powers is that other keratinous body structures such as her hair and nails grow at an exceptionally fast rate, which means she must trim them more often than normal. Enhanced Strength While by no means superlatively strong, Alma's skeleton is exceptionally resilient due to the fact that her bones are highly able to regenerate and so are slow to feel strain.